Every resident of West Windsor and Plainsboro should be proud of the accomplishments and recognition of our schools. New Jersey Monthly Magazine just released their high school rankings: North is number two and South is number nine. Both schools in the top 10 gives us a reason to cheer.
A second piece of great news comes from Niche.com, an organization based in Pittsburgh that ranks school districts. They have ranked the WW-P Regional School District number 3 in New Jersey and number 33 in the U.S. Our schools are grounded in a strong curriculum, delivered by a highly professional staff, supported by professional development that is current in the use of best practices of research based instruction.
Over the past year, information about our school district has appeared in print that is incorrect. I have decided to be a candidate for the school board from West Windsor because I am committed to improving and expanding communications between the schools and community. Every citizen has the right to ask questions. Our school system has the obligation to provide answers. However, we all must demand that the information is accurate.
A recent letter in the News regarding honors classes in our high schools stated that there are no standards for admission into honors classes, and as a result, 80 percent of ninth grade students are in language arts honors classes.
As the former chairperson of the Curriculum Committee, I worked with the other members of the Board of Education to move away from the teacher recommendation process that resulted in more than 1,200 parental override requests annually.
We created a process based upon course eligibility standards that allowed everyone to know exactly what was required to enter upper level courses, honors and advanced placement. As a result, 40 percent of our freshmen are in honors language arts classes and the grade distribution is similar to before.
The data in other departments is the same. In addition, more students are eligible and taking AP courses, with 93 percent of those students scoring 3, 4 or 5 on the AP exams, consistent with our prior data.
In the nine years that I served on the board, we made careful decisions to expand access to programs to as many students as possible. Our schools must be inclusive, not exclusive.
The data shows that these decisions were correct. Today we have more students enrolled and succeeding in honors and advanced placement classes, yet the overall standing of the school system remains among the best in the state and the nation.
I am proud to have been part of what was accomplished in the past and will work toward expanding the excellence of the WW-P schools when elected.
Richard Kaye
Kaye is one of six candidates running for two open West Windsor seats on the WW-P School Board.
